Nanosized Mn₃O₄ nanowires are prepared with KMnO₄ and ethanol in mild conditions by facile hydrothermal method. Hydrothermal reaction temperature is optimized to get uniform nanowires. The prepared Mn₃O₄ nanowires exhibit high activity in the treatment of phenol at acid condition and room temperature. The 20 mg Mn₃O₄ nanowires can efficiently dispose of 50 mL phenol solution (0.2 g·L⁻¹) at pH 2 and 25 °C. The nanowires before and after phenol treatment are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the reaction mechanism is discussed.

At present, the oil extraction and chemical industry and other industries produce a large amount of oily wastewater and organic sewage, and the world is suffering from oil spills and organic wastewater pollution. As a porous material, aerogels are promising in the field of oil adsorption. In this work, the nanocellulose/aminated multi-walled carbon nanotube (NC-MWCNT-NH₂) nanocomposite aerogel with a high porosity of up to 97.80% is prepared by varying the weight percentage of MWCNTs-NH₂, among which the nanocomposite aerogel with 0.1% weight percentage of MWCNTs-NH₂ exhibits the best adsorption performance with the adsorption capacity to cyclohexane, ethyl acetate, anhydrous ethanol, methylene dichloride, acetone, kerosene, pump oil, and used pump oil of 39.77 ± 0.82, 44.54 ± 1.67, 43.03 ± 1.06, 62.13 ± 0.36, 39.92 ± 1.09, 39.37 ± 0.27, 43.48 ± 0.06, and 38.45 ± 0.84 g·g⁻¹, respectively. Compared with pure nanocellulose aerogel, the adsorption capacity of the NC-MWCNT-NH₂ aerogel to pump oil is improved by up to 93.9%, which exhibits excellent adsorption properties and could be utilized in the field of oil adsorption.

A type of MCM-41 supported dicationic imidazolium ionic liquid nanocatalyst has been synthesized and found to be competent for the synthesis of 2-oxazolidinones through the sustainable chemical conversion of CO₂ with aziridines. It was shown that the highest efficiency was achieved in the cycloaddition of a series of aziridines and CO₂ in the presence of a catalytic amount of the solid catalyst MCM-41@ILLaCl₄ under mild conditions. Merits of this meticulously designed protocol are the use of a novel supported ionic liquid catalyst, the easy work-up process, good to excellent yields, a short reaction time, and purification without column chromatography. Overall, the present protocol of synthesizing 2-oxazolidinones under cocatalyst- and solvent-free conditions using MCM-41@ILLaCl₄ is promising for industrial applications.

Some recyclable SO₃H-functionalized ionic liquids have been used as catalysts in water for the aza-Michael reactions of amines with α,β-unsaturated compounds to produce β-amino compounds. High yields of the products, short reaction times, mild reaction conditions, simple experimental procedure, reusable catalysts and no obvious loss of the catalytic activity make this protocol a contribution to organic chemistry.

A novel and highly efficient electro-catalytic protocol for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and CO₂ using 1-aminopropyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide ([APMIm]DCA) as the supporting electrolyte, graphite as the anode, and Ti/TiO₂-CNT-Pt as the cathode has been developed. Based on the cooperative effect between active Ti/TiO₂-CNT-Pt cathode and active sites of supporting ionic liquid electrolyte [APMIm]DCA, CO₂ and epoxides could be effectively converted into the corresponding cyclic carbonates in high to excellent yields under mild conditions. Moreover, the electro-catalytic system could be easily recovered and reused for six successive cycles without a considerable decrease in catalytic activity. This work provides a sustainable and efficient cooperative strategy for the chemical fixation of carbon dioxide into valuable cyclic carbonates. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT